Max Verstappen F1 News: FIA announce BIZARRE Singapore GP punishment

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Singapore Grand Prix

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FIA announce BIZARRE Verstappen punishment

Max Verstappen has been handed a punishment following an unusual incident

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 20 September 2024 21:02

The FIA have declared their verdict over an incident that occurred with Max Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix, resulting in a punishment.

Verstappen went into the Singapore GP weekend desperate to try and stop the tide of momentum that is going against him in the drivers' championship.

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The Dutchman, who claimed seven race victories in the early part of the season, has seen his championship lead slowly diminish in recent races, with Lando Norris flying in the much faster papaya car.

Verstappen has not claimed a race win since the Spanish GP back in June, an uncharacteristic run of seven races.

Max Verstappen is struggling to maintain his championship advantage against Lando Norris

Max Verstappen has been punished for his gp conduct in Singapore

Verstappen slammed with FIA punishment

Verstappen's frustrations in recent races have been borne out over team radio, where a number of X-rated rants have come the way of unfortunate race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

The three-time champion recently suggested that he doesn't think team radio should be broadcast, to avoid young viewers being subject to over-emotional outbursts.

However, during Thursday's press conference in Singapore, the Dutchman was visibly annoyed by new FIA measures to try and stop drivers from swearing.

As well as asking: "Are we five or six years old?," the three-time world champion also proceeded to say that his RB20 car last time out in Baku was "f****d".

Now, that remark has landed him in hot water with the FIA, who have decided to take action over language that they describe as 'coarse, rude and may cause offence'.

Max Verstappen has been punished for using bad language

The FIA have slammed the Dutchman with a rather unusual punishment in the form of an 'obligation to accomplish some work of public interest'.

In an official statement, Formula 1's governing body said: "The stewards reviewed the transcript of the FIA Thursday Driver Press Conference in Singapore and Max Verstappen, driver of car 1, used language to describe his car at the Event in Azerbaijan which is generally considered “coarse, rude” or may “cause offence” and is not considered suitable for broadcast.

"This is “Misconduct” as defined in Art 20 of the International Sporting Code, and is a breach of Art 12.2.1.k. The Stewards noted that the language was not directed at anyone or any group.

"When summoned to the Stewards the driver explained that the word used is ordinary in speech as he learned it, English not being his native language. While the Stewards accept that this may be true, it is important for role models to learn to be mindful when speaking in public forums, in particular when not under any particular pressure."

The statement then revealed that Verstappen had since apologised for his behaviour.

"The Stewards note that significant fines have been levied for language offensive to or directed at specific groups. This is not the case here. But, as this topic has been raised before and is well known by the competitors, the Stewards determined to order a greater penalty than previously and that Verstappen be “obliged to accomplish some work of public interest” (Art. 12.4.1.d of the International Sporting Code), in coordination with the Secretary General for Sport of the FIA."

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Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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Red Bull Max Verstappen FIA Lando Norris Singapore Grand Prix drivers' championship